Between Life and Death
by sinalchemy
Summary: Luke was always the strong one. The one who never gave up. And even when he was flickering between life and death, he always fought for what he needed to do.
1. Adam's Song

It had been terribly cold that day. Too cold, Jade had said. He had always been the rational one, but didn't try to keep them all from journeying out into the brutal weather, with the wind blowing and snow whipping their faces, Luke shivering and Tear not showing any sign that she was freezing. In fact, no one really had said anything, which made it quite awkward and quiet.

Luke led them all trudging up the mountain, teeth chattering and murmuring something about a coat or starting a fire. It would have been the sensible thing to do, but they had something important to do and none of them wanted to abandon that. Not when they had come this far and so many had lost their lives. No, they couldn't turn their back. Not now. Everything would have been wasted, everyone who lost their lives would lose what their lives meant, and Luke would have felt even worse about so many people dying.

He'd been so deep in thought, he'd, surprisingly, forgot to walk. This, in Guy and Anise's opinions, was extremely odd. The concern only grew when he suddenly fell face down, right where he stood.

Guy was the first to react. He rushed over at quite an amazing speed and bent down to pick Luke up. His eyes scanned Luke's face for any sign of consciousness, of… life. When he spotted none, thoughts raced through his mind. Terrible, horrible, frightening thoughts.

A small, weak voice snapped him out of his trance. "No," it said, and Guy blinked. He frowned, eyes wide. He never imagined Luke's voice would be that weak… It was nearly too much for him to handle. "Don't worry about me…"

"Luke…" Tear had appeared at Guy's side, a concerned look crossing her face. "Luke, we need to get you to a doc-"

"No!" Natalia gasped; she certainly hadn't heard that tone of voice since before Akzeriuth. "You guys go on ahead… I-I'll be fine."

"Colonel… do something!" Anise said, her voice high-pitched. "That can't possibly be healthy, him collapsing like that!"

"Indeed, it isn't." Jade sighed, rubbing his temples. "We should definitely take him to get checked out," he murmured, and Luke shook his head furiously. "Luke. No arguments. Unless you want to die, right here and now?" he said in a calm, cool voice. Anise could hear a small, slight note of concern in his voice.

"I…" his hand had somehow grabbed onto Guy's shirt; he tensed, and then relaxed. "…n-no… You're right…"

They, with Guy as the leader and still holding onto Luke with a determined look, walked down the mountain and back to Keterburg.

As they got closer to the snowy city, Guy couldn't bring himself to tell the others that he saw Luke, lifeless for one single, heart-breaking moment.

It was wrong, to keep it from them, but there was no way he could tell them. Not now… but for some reason, he felt that Tear had seen it as well.

He hoped she hadn't.


	2. How Soon Is Now?

It was lucky they had found the right doctor, right there in Keterburg. Nephry had helped, of course, by request of Jade. She had given him what seemed like a meaningful look, and only he understood exactly what it meant. As soon as the doctor arrived, both siblings pushed the other four out of the room, and for what seemed like days, they waited.

Inside the room, the doctor had checked Luke's blood fonons, his pulse, asked him a myriad of questions, which Luke had answered as if he knew what was going on. A mumble, a mutter, a frown, a grimace. These all came from Luke, and Jade was becoming even more worried by the second, so it seemed.

As soon as they were done, Jade escorted Luke outside once more and entered the room, practically slamming the door. "Well?" he asked in an oddly calm and quiet voice. The doctor hesitated, then spoke.

"The process of his fading has sped up rapidly." He stopped and raised an eyebrow as Nephry gave a small squeak, her eyes wide and hands flying up to her mouth.

"I-is there anything…?"

"That we can do? No." He pulled out a tiny bottle, which he handed to Jade. "Like with Tear, we can delay it. However, even with this medicine, he only has a maximum of a month. If we're lucky, two."

"I see," Jade murmured, closing his eyes. "Precautions. I understand we must be careful, but we cannot merely ignore the fact that we have something to accomplish." The doctor opened his mouth, closed it, and studied Jade's face.

"What is it you're trying to do?" Jade glanced at Nephry, who looked almost fearful. He explained it carefully, and the doctor's eyes widened. "I see. I understand… this is a priority. But-"

"But nothing. Luke would insist that he finish what he started. I cannot stop him if this is what he wants to do." He pocketed the medicine and didn't give either one of them another chance to speak, as he had walked out abruptly.

"Jade…?" Natalia asked, eyebrows furrowing as he exited the room. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all," he murmured, glancing around at all of them. "Now, shall we be going?"

"Jade." Tear had spoken, her voice and expression hard and almost cold. "You're lying."

"Am I?" He raised an eyebrow, gave her a thin-lipped smile. "Perhaps you should tell me what's really going on." She was taken aback at the smile, the tone, and clenched her fists.

"He's… he's going to…" She bit her lip, not wanting to go on, but somehow plucked up the courage and said quickly, "He's going to die soon, isn't he?" A strangled yelp of helplessness from both Anise and Natalia.

Jade found it oddly lucky, a strange bout of relief, that Guy and Luke were not present in the hall when Tear had oh-so eloquently blurted out what was wrong. He tipped his head down, then up in a small and – was it sad? – nod. There was a long and almost awkward silence, broken only by Anise's small and muffled sob.

He sighed, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked away.


End file.
